Tom’s eyes blinked, and his head shook at the bombshell. “I never knew you bought another plot of land. Could it be a bugout location? How did you keep it secret from Grandpa?”
“Slow down, boy. One question at a time! Jonas and I were equals at the ranch until the question of a plan B occurred. His attempt to run roughshod over me backfired on him. Two things happened that got his attention. I left him and the kids with only a note that said, ‘I’ll be back in a week to check on whether you’ve come to your senses and realize I’m your partner and not your daughter.’ The second part of the note explained how he would have a miserable existence if he kept treating me like my ideas weren’t worth discussing.”
Jackie was almost speechless, but finally spoke. “Where did you go for a week?”
“I checked in to the nicest hotel in Ashland, bought new clothes, and ate out at the best restaurants every night with the gentlemen flirting with me. That made me feel better. I accomplished purchasing 1,900 acres west of the ranch with two old cabins, and, more importantly, a cave that had been home to Indians a thousand years ago. The short story is the cabins weren’t much, but I stumbled onto the cave while walking around my new property. The cave goes way back into the hillside and has several rooms that are as big as our dining and kitchen area.”
Tom said, “Wow, 1,900 acres would cost millions today. That’s a huge estate.”
Granny B laughed. “It’s mainly bare rock with pine trees and scrub brush trying to hang on for dear life. It’s a valley about two and a half miles long by a mile wide at the top of the hills on either side. There’s soil and grass at the bottom. That’s maybe several thousand acres of good grazing land.”
Everyone had a dozen questions and kept interrupting each other. Granny B placed her hands together in the time-out sign. “Whoa down. We’ll go over there the first available time. Until then - Yes, it will work as a backup. My dad owned the land and sold it to me for half of my savings. He would have given it to me, but he was having hard times. He died two years later. He actually lived in one of the cabins when he died. I used my military savings I’d built up and invested before marrying Jonas to buy the place. I’ve been slowly stocking it for thirty years. Jonas didn’t want to have anything to do with it.”
Jackie asked, “Is it set up like our ranch?”
Granny B said, “No, it doesn’t have the supplies this place does. No electricity besides a generator. Not much to offer but running water, constant temperature, and security. Remember, I hoped to never use it.”
“Wow,” Tom said, then sat in the library in silence as he continued to listen to Granny B talk.
Tom stood up and said, “We need to go over there and see what we need to do to get it ready for a potential bugout if Carlos and his little army show up here.”
Granny B had gone to her room to be alone after their discussion, so June and Kate prepared lunch. They’d all sat down at the table when Jack and James burst into the dining area. “We know for sure now that we have rustlers. Alice is pulling up footage from the cabin’s surveillance system. Come take a look at this crap.”
They ran to the operations room and watched the monitor. Cattle appeared on the screen moving west, and right behind them were three men on horses. Tom blurted out, “The sumbitches are stealing our cattle!”
Tom noticed the time stamp indicated the theft occurred early that morning. “Why did it take you so long to report the theft?”
Jack looked down at the floor. “Sorry, James and I followed the tracks to see where they were taking the cattle. We stopped after an hour and a half, and high-tailed it down here to let you know.”
Tom’s head shook side to side. “Why didn’t you use your walkie-talkie?”
“I … left both of them down here.”
By then, Tom’s fists were balled up against his head as he tried to control his temper. He exhaled and then said, “We learn by our mistakes. In the future, you don’t go to the bathroom without your walkie-talkie. That goes for you too, James. Jack, I want the telephone line to the cabin moved up on your to-do list. James and Alice could be in deep trouble without being able to contact us.”
Tom saw Granny B had joined them. He didn’t want the women to go but knew he needed Granny B to take them to her cabin and caves. Tom knew Kate and Jackie would pitch a fit if they weren’t included. He avoided their wrath by saying, “Granny B, Rick, Jackie, Kate, and I’ll follow the rustler’s trail on horseback. We’d already planned to take a short trip to a location west of here in a few days. Let’s get our backpacks and enough food for three days and find the rustler’s home base. Jack and James, be ready to join us at a moment’s notice. Come armed to the teeth.”
The Ranch - at the old cabin.
Tom kept reminding everyone to stay vigilant while they rode up to the cabin. They said hello to Alice, who was standing guard while the others were installing the wire for their telephone service through the tree limbs. It was a pain in the ass, but they would be hard to spot fifteen feet up in the air. They followed Jack’s instructions and soon cut the trail of
